I forgot to say the other thing they seem to have in most schools (full time in High Schools, part time in primary schools) is a Guidance Officer. He or she helps out with any of children if they have any underlying issues but also tests for any learning difficulties and advises.

The other thing I have found is they are more willing to support children that they deem disadvantaged here be it from their background or from their disabilities etc there is special funding to help these children to find a future career (I'm talking older high school children) one new scheme is called Positive Pathways. I have come across several of these schemes in place and there seems to more all the time starting up.

I think it is nice to know as a parent that no matter what problems you think your child will face they have a lot of support for their future at the schools. You may have to ask a few questions however to ensure you find the right person.

Thankyou, I am so pleased for you I so want to be were you are, at the moment it just seems like a dream.....

Guess the best thing is to just go for it! and then we can see for ourselve's.

julie

This is the most informative thread I have seen so far regarding these problems. It was one of the first questions I asked about on the forum and we had advice from Crocodile Seamus and his wife Lyn (thankyou!). We have decided like all of you to go ahead and try for visas. I don't know how difficult it will be because our son has persistant speech and language delay, mild autism and mild learning difficulties. If we are refused a visa on account of Alex we feel we have lost nothing - like you all we love our child and the cost of the visa process means less to us than the prospect of an outdoor life. I wish you all luck and was glad to read of sucsessful applications. Reading the thread has prompted me to make sure that all our reports are up to date. I feel nervous about the medicals but will probably stress out more nearer the time.

For my daughter she was born with a cystic hygroma to the right side of her face (heaps of cysts all within her face and externally) ever since she was born she has had to have operations. As I said speech therapy, dieticians, delayed learning, breathing problems, hearing problems etc etc

We had reports left right and centre from specialists saying how it effected her and how she was doing at the current time. When we went for the medical the doctor was lovely and explained that she would go as a category B. This means her info would be viewed in more detail by the Aussie medical lot to determine how much she would cost the country if they allowed her to move here. I can't remember the exact figure it is but say it's $200,000 if they worked it out she would cost $199,999 then she would be allowed in but one dollar over and she would have been turned down. A category A is where you go through without any problems.

Good luck to you all

Have today posted a new thread entitled 'deferred opinion'. We are currently battling with the MOC to pass my 7 yr old daughter who has learning difficulties etc.

Its been a tough long road so far, but reading some of your stories and successes has given us hope.

Good luck to all of us trying and congrats to those who have succeeded.

janie.c

Janie - sorry to hear you are facing a bit of a battle.Are you able to give a little more detail and perhaps somebody out there may have some advice relevant for a specific problem? I will cross my fingers and hope to hear you have good news soon.
LouB

Hi

It depends which state you plan to settle in. If you move to NSW try this link. They wont do the work for you but they will tell you how to go about getting the support your child needs. http://www.family-advocacy.com/index2.php We have been in Sydney 3 years in October. Although we got help for our adopted children (both have global developmental delay), it has been a long long slog. In the UK it was easy and help was ready at hand. In fact this is one of the resons we plan to return to the UK. We believe the UK system offers a much more supportive service for children with any type of learning difficulties. Good luck. Ian